Rebellion
by ERidg17
Summary: Princess Haruhi Fujioka has been asleep for 22 years. In that time, a new power has risen in the shadows of the King's defeat. He rules the land with fear and hides in the shadows. A rebellion is stirring, and the Princess must lead them. And with her Blessed Guards by her side, she might be able to take back the land that is rightfully hers. AU
1. Chapter 1

The frost-covered girl with the hair of fire is a silent sentry in the entry hall. Her mouth is parted in a scream of fury, her eyes blazing. The colors of her once-vibrant green skirt are dulled by the frost. Her sword, still undrawn, is frozen to her side. Though her wild mane of fire-hair is muted, it stands out vibrantly.

It is easy to glide between the frozen waves that surround her, brought forth by her raised palms.

He ghosts past the stone hall that leads to the dungeons. The fire-boy and his twin, the mind-controller, are housed down there, with the man who can turn invisible, and is as fast as a cheetah.

The library door is chained shut with enchanted steel, and he knows the dark man is trapped within.

He passes another door, and he can hear light breathing from the tall, silver-eyed man sitting inside. He doesn't stir, his mind trapped in the void.

He whirls up the stairs of the tower and, in his haste, knocks over a vase worth thousands of dollars. It shatters into a million tiny slivers, unfixable.

The room at the top holds the princess and her stone guardian.

The man, once blonde, stands with this hands hanging at his sides and an odd, triumphant grin on his cold stone face. There are no cracks in his stone form, no signs of aging or weathering.

He takes this as a good sign.

Across the room, the princess lays on the bed. Her chocolate hair is cut short, like it always was. She's pale, her hands folded neatly on her stomach. Her pale blue dress that she hated so much drapes over the side of her bed.

An almost invisible bubble surrounds her. Only the faint glimmer coming from the window illuminates it.

He can't reach her, the linchpin of his rebellion. So instead, he glides over to the one that can wake her. He circles him a few times, then rushes at the statue, encasing the statue-man in a hot, red glow.

After a few seconds, the man heaves his first breath in 22 years and collapses.

He withdraws and speeds back down the tower steps and through the castle that has fallen into despair.

He must wait, and gain more energy. It won't take long.

A rebellion is coming.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 1**_

It takes a few more minutes before he can stand. His legs have been frozen in place for so long it almost hurts to bend them.

When he finally straightens up, he pauses. He doesn't know what finally freed him from his horrid existence as a statue. But he knows for what purpose.

To encourage this rebellion stirring.

But he is torn. Should he wake his princess up? He does not want to put her in danger. But she is essential.

So he reluctantly crosses over to where she sleeps and places a hand on her protective bubble. It ebbs away under his touch.

Draped over her chest is a necklace, with a chain so long that the brilliant blue pendant rests on her stomach. He gently lifts the gold chain off her chest and over her head, and tucks it into an inside pocket of his shirt before perching on a windowsill.

He just has to wait.

* * *

She sits up suddenly, feeling as if her bed had tilted backwards and dropped her into thin air. She was falling.

"Princess?" A smooth voce, pitched with concern, grabs her attention and directs it to a windowsill across the room.

A man with hair of gold rises from his perch, face etched in attentive worry. She recognizes him immediately.

"Tamaki, I've told you time and time again to call me Haruhi, like Estrild and Mitskuni do."

Tamaki chuckles. "And I've told you time and time again, it would be improper for me to call you by your given name, Princess."

Haruhi slides her legs off the bed. "Are they gone?" She asks, referring to the men that invaded her castle.

Tamaki's usually jovial face darkens. "Yes." He hesitates for a second, then continues, "They've been gone for quite a while, Princess." Some thing in the way he says it makes her pause.

"How long, Tamaki?" Haruhi asks softly. "How long was I asleep?"

This time, he doesn't pause. "Twenty-two years, my lady."

Haruhi's light brown eyes widen, making them look comically big.

"Come on, Princess. We must wake the other guards." He holds out a hand for her to take, and she accepts it, pulling her skirts up a bit as they race down the stairs. "I'm not absolutely sure where they are, but I know they're all in the castle. Once we wake Takashi, everything should become a bit clearer." They reach the bottom of the stairs, and Tamaki lifts her over a portion of the wall by her waist. Haruhi says nothing in protest, used to her guards, especially the twins, picking her up.

"How do you know they're all still in the castle?" She asks. Her guards had never explained to her how they had always known exactly where each other was. She had never really given it a thought either.

"Takashi." Tamaki says by way of explanation. "He connected our minds a while back." Haruhi nods, filled with the satisfaction that comes when a difficult problem has a simple solution. They dart past a section of the castle walls that were choked with ivy.

Each of her guards were blessed upon their births by various spirits, or other - as they were called - Blessed people with a similar power, usually before they died.

No two powers were exactly the same. They could be similar, but never the same. Every time a person's power was transferred to another, it changed its ability, or strength.

Takashi had the ability to read minds at a range of within two miles. He could also connect minds to his and to one another, enabling the connected persons to talk silently.

His cousin, Mitskuni, was the oldest, and fastest of her outer guards. Even though each guards had an unusual amount of strength and speed, he seemed to be the strongest. He is a good scout, able to turn invisible.

Tamaki stiffens and turns suddenly into a room on the right, his fists clenching. Takashi is slumped against the far wall, eyes closed and his chest rising and falling shallowly.

"Is he sleeping?"

Tamaki shakes his head. "No. Somebody has - has taken his mind, cast it into nothingness, a void." He can sense the emptiness of the body that is now nothing but a shell, and it hurts almost physically. Haruhi can hear his voice shake.

"How do we wake him?" At this, Tamaki closes his eyes and focuses on the man in front of him.

"Not asleep." He repeats, then falls silent. He kneels next to the tall man and rests his forehead on Takashi's shoulder, and closes his eyes.

Haruhi watches in silence, a bit confused.

Tamaki reaches out, connecting to Takashi as well as he can, and almost cries out at the emptiness he discovers. he reaches out farther, grasping for Takashi's mind. Takashi must be there. He can't be gone.

Takashi is drifting, floating, oblivious. He recognizes that there is a reason to return, but he can't remember what that reason is.

_Takashi._ A familiar voice echoes to him, softly, gently. _You have to come back now. _

Takashi trusts this voice implicitly. He knows that he is right, that the voice - Tamaki - needs him if he he's asking. He knows his family; they only ask when they truly need.

Tamaki must need him.

Tamaki appears before him like a mirage, swords strapped to his sides and the same, bright grin on his face, violet eyes glittering. He holds his hand out.

_Come on._ He urges, waving his hand in front of Takashi's face eagerly.

Takashi takes it, and Tamaki hauls him up. Takashi stumbles forward as he stands, and suddenly he's standing in a room, with Haruhi looking on in shock.

Tamaki claps him on the back. "Welcome back, Takashi." He acts like nothing's wrong, though he still wants to cry over the cruel fates that have suffer.

"It's nice to be back." It feels good to talk again. His voice is quiet, and rough. He clears his throat, then nods to Haruhi. "Princess."

Haruhi's lips thin in irritation. "Haruhi." She insists.

Takashi shakes his head, a faints smile decorating his lips. "Princess Haruhi." He amends teasingly.

Haruhi glares at him with chocolate eyes, but humor is hiding behind the flecks of caramel.

Takashi turns to Tamaki, tapping momentarily into his Blessing. Instantly, Tamaki's mind sharpens and he is more attached to the others. "Kyouya's in the library. Mitskuni, Hikaru, and Kaoru are in the dungeons. But - "

"Estrild is in the entry hall." Tamaki interrupts tensely. Takashi and Haruhi stare at him. Takashi can only feel a big blank spot where Estrild would sit.

"Why is Estrild in the entrance hall? Is she already awake?" Tamaki fidgets under Haruhi piercing gaze. Estrild was - is, he reminds himself - her inner guard. She has been since Tamaki was 13, and she was 17, almost 18.

"You'll see." Takashi replies simply, aware of of Tamaki's discomfort. He knows something is wrong, and he is uneasy. Estrild has a strong mind; if she was that close to him, he should be able to sense her. Something is _wrong_, but he trusts him, _them_.

Tamaki leads the way to the library, his footsteps echoing softly back to them. Takashi lifts Haruhi over a particularly large piece of rubble.

"Takashi." Tamaki calls. Takashi looks up as Haruhi lands steadily on her feet. Tamaki gestures to the door. Takashi draws his broadsword, and Tamaki pulls Haruhi behind him. She stands with her arms crossed.

He raises his sword above his head, and brings it down on the chains. It cuts halfway through the lock, and and the rest pulls apart with a swift tug.

The chains pool on the ground, and Takashi kicks them aside before cautiously opening the door. Kyouya stands on the other side, waiting patiently. HIs bow and quiver of steel-tipped arrows are already strapped to his back. He is as calm and cool as ever, his clothes somehow clean and his glasses reflecting white.

"Takashi." Kyouya greets him. They brush against each other as Kyouya steps over the chains. The touch renews their bond, and they suddenly are more aware of the weakness of each other's mental shields.

They both can suddenly feel the desperation from Tamaki, his eagerness to find the twins, Mitskuni, and Estrild. He's deliberately not thinking of Estrild too much, and it makes Takashi uneasy.

And then a blond blur is racing past him into the room and is throwing his arms around Kyouya.

"_Mon ami!_" Tamaki is grinning as he slips back into his native French, too wide for his face and Kyouya - no matter how hard he's trying to hide it, is leaning ever so slightly into the hug, and Haruhi is laughing softly, and Takashi thinks that maybe the might find a bit of normal, a bit of light, in this dark future. And it gives him hope.


End file.
